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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Today's Holiday Tutorial is by Ali from a squared w. Ali's blog is a fun read, she's a darling red head who loves to travel, take pictures, sew (of course!) and the color yellow! She's got a lot of great tutorials, patterns and finished work! Thanks so much to Ali for her awesome Flip Pouch tutorial!!When I received my copy of Melody' book, Ruby Star Wrapping, I was inspired to cut down on the wrapping waste this year. Ideas floated around but none of them seemed to stick. I needed something easy that I could do with what I already have (lots of fabric!).

Like magic, this came to me. I spent a good amount of time figuring out how to make this with all seams hidden. A few prototypes later and some hard thinking and I have it.

I've scaled mine to fit my hairdryer and brush for travel. They would also make great shoe bags (these are perfect for size 7 Converse!), snack bags (if you line them with PUL instead) and travel laundry bags for delicates. Toss a plain rice sack in it for a heating pad, or make a tiny one for headphones. I trust you can come up with many uses!

Let's get to it!

* All seam allowances are 1/4" *

Materials

- 9.5" x 26" exterior fabric

- 9.5" x 9.5" lining fabric

- 9.5" x 19" lining fabric

- 6" of 3/4" velcro (optional)

Make It!

* Optional: Velcro

Center one piece on the velcro on the exterior fabric: 3/4" down from the top, 2.25" from each side.

Center the other piece of velcro on the 19" piece of lining fabric: 1.75" down from the top, 2.25" from each side.

1) Sew the two lining pieces together along one 9.5" side, leaving a 3" gap in the middle. This is where we will turn the bag at the end. (seam 1) (The velcro should not be near this seam)

2) Sew the exterior fabric to the 17.5" lining fabric. Press the seam open. Top stitch with decorative stitch of your choice over the seam line. (seam 2) (The side of the lining fabric that has the velcro and the side of the exterior fabric that does not have velcro)

3) Sew the other ends of the lining and exterior fabric together, creating a tube. Turn right side out and press. Top stitch 1/8" from the edge. (seam 3)(The side of the lining fabric that does not have the velcro and the side of the exterior fabric that does have velcro)

4) Turn back inside out. This is the tricky step.

- Lay the tube on your cutting mat with Seam 1 lined up in a grid line and the wrong side of 9.5" lining square facing to the left.

- Fold it back at Seam 2 so that you create a pocket. The next fold should line up with Seam 1 on the grid line.

- Measure 12" from Seam 1 and mark the layer on the cutting mat (Mark 1). Measure an additional 5.5" from this point and make another mark on the bottom layer (Mark 2).

-We are going to be making a second pocket on the left side of our tube. Fold the fabric toward the right at Mark 1, then back to the left at Mark 2, making sure that this is on top of the first pocket. Pin!

- The last fold should align with the fold at Mark 1. Pin. Pin. Pin.

This is the pocket created on the left side of the diagram. You can see that both the top and bottom layer are folded.

5) Sew along the 2 pinned sides. Trim corners. Do not cut any folds!

6) Turn right side out. There will be a lot of turning and flipping involved, but you should be able to get it to the right place if you folded it correctly. Top stitch the opening closed, making sure not to catch any other layers.

Here is the pouch with the top flipped open. You can see that there aren't any exposed seams and that the top and bottom have a couple inches of overlap.

Ta-Dah! Now go put things in it. :)

These two bags are the same size. On the left are a pair of size 7 sparkly black Converse. On the right is a lumpy package. Can you guess what's in there?

I love this little bag and I tried my best to follow the directions. I ended up with a big mess ball of fabric. For some reason I just don't think I did it right. Is anyone else having trouble following the instructions? I asked the best seamstress I know to try and she couldn't understand them either. Please help!